Janet Ashford and John Odam, co-authors of Start With a Scan, explain how any object that's small and light enough to be placed on your scanner can become an instant photo image to be used on its own or as the starting point for an illustration.

From Chapter 11 of "Start
with a Scan", by Janet Ashford and John Odam.

From the author of

From the author of

Bypassing the Camera

"Found Art": Scanning Real Objects

Sometimes the source of an original illustration is as close as that cluttered
catchall drawer in your kitchen. Any object that's small and light enough to
be placed on the glass of your scanner can become an instant photo image-to
be used on its own or as the starting point for an illustration. By changing
colors, applying filters, creating montages, or converting scanned images to
line art or posterizations, you can create a variety of illustrations that are
original, cheap, and readily available.

Of course, flatbed scanners were designed for scanning flat pieces of paper.
But that restriction never stopped curious people from photocopying objects
and body parts on the first office copiers, and inventive designers were quick
to see the potential for scanning objects when the first desktop scanners hit
the market. Experimentation and an inventive mind can produce unique images
that break away from the "period" look of the 19th Century clip art or the prepackaged
look of more contemporary clip art offerings.